Science fiction (Novelty)

Elizabeth Moon INTO THE FIRE CHAPTER ONE SLOTTER KEY, PORT MAJOR DAY 1 Ky Vatta stood looking out the upper-floor window of the Vatta home in Port Major, just above the entrance. Below, she could see the brick walk bordered by low shrubs pruned into balls, the perfect green lawn, the white-painted palings and gate through which she and Rafe had entered a few hours before. A chill draft came off the window, reminding her that she was still in the beach clothes shed put on before leaving Corleigh ...

Elizabeth Moon COLD WELCOME CHAPTER ONE SLOTTER KEY NEARSPACE DAY 1 Ky Vatta stared down at her home planet as her pinnace took her from Vanguard II, her flagship, to the lower-orbit space station where she would take a shuttle down to the surface. Once there, she would have to assume the role of Grand Admiral Vatta, homecoming hero of the recent war. But here, between the place she had made for herselfas founder and commander of Space Defense Forceand the welcome that awaited her, she had a ...

Elizabeth Moon MOON FLIGHTS In memory of my grandfather, Edwin James Jamerson, who loved stories and storytelling and was a storyteller himself, of the cracker-barrel-and-whittlin school. Introduction by Anne McCaffrey What a treat To write an introduction for a writer whom I hold in high esteem. All her books are on my comfort shelves. I think it was Bill Fawcett who first introduced me to Elizabeth Moon for her book, Sheepfarmers Daughter, the first volume of The Deed of Paksenarrion. Then, ...

Erin Frances Fisher THAT TINY LIFE We are survivors of immeasurable events, Flung upon some reach of land, Small, wet miracles without instructions, Only the imperative of change. Rebecca Elson, Evolution VALLEY FLOOR The sawbones squats, his satchel by his knees, his back to the cart and the mules and their feedbags. He runs his forefinger along the tourniquet above Roys knee, rubs the pus between his fingertips and thumb, sniffs the lot, and says hes taking Roys leg. Like shit you are, I say. ...

Nancy Kress TERRAN TOMORROW For Jack, always The major advances in civilization are processes that all but wreck the societies in which they occur. It is the business of the future to be dangerous and it is among the merits of science that it equips the future for its duties. Alfred North Whitehead The brain is wider than the sky For, put them side by side The one the other will contain With ease, and you beside. Emily Dickinson Map PROLOGUE Jason stood in a small enclosure between two doors, ...

ZIONS FICTION A TREASURY OF ISRAELI SPECULATIVE LITERATURE EDITED BY Sheldon Teitelbaum and Emanuel Lottem FOREWORD BY Robert Silverberg AFTERWORD BY Aharon Hauptman ILLUSTRATIONS BY Avi Katz To my wife, Lilith, and kids, Adam, Shiran, and Liam, for keeping my sense of wonder afloat to my mom, Roz, whose fortitude is something to behold to my late father, Harry, and to uncles, Jack and Ben ZTL, who would have had a hoot with this, and to Grand Master Bob, who bent space and opened portals. SHELI ...

WANDERING STARS AN ANTHOLOGY OF JEWISH FANTASY SCIENCE FICTION Edited by Jack Dann To my mother Edith N. Dann, who still makes the best chicken soup. Acknowledgments The editor would like to thank the following people for their help and ideas: Rabbi David S. Boros George Zebrowski Gardner Dozois Joe W. Haldeman Harry Altshuler and, of course, Victoria Schochet. INTRODUCTION Why Me Isaac Asimov When I was asked to do the introduction to this collection, that was the question I asked. Why me One ...

MORE WANDERING STARS AN ANTHOLOGY OF OUTSTANDING STORIES OF JEWISH FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION Edited by Jack Dann With an Introduction by Isaac Asimov In memory of Edith N. Dann, who taught me everything important. INTRODUCTION The Hebrew Source Isaac Asimov Back in 1974, Jack Yankele Dann edited a book called Wandering Stars, which was a collection of stories of science fiction and fantasy with Jewish themes. When I heard that Yankele had this in his head, I marveled. Where, I asked myself, ...

Rich Larson TOMORROW FACTORY COLLECTED FICTION For Gardner Dozois 19472018, a giant who lifted others into view and for Helen Wiebe, with all my love INTRODUCTION James Patrick Kelly Im going to introduce you to a new writer in a moment, one who is unlike any new writer Ive encountered in my forty-some years in science fiction. But first, what is a new writer You may not realize that new writers can remain new for years and years. The clock starts when someone who has been messing around with ...

Alex Gore THE CUBE To Ritchie Blackmore who created the most gorgeous music ever made. Also, to Candice and Ritchie whose love made me believe in the existence of soul mates. Life is just a moment between two eternities. Plato PART ONE: THE SHINING Boston, Harvard, Day 1, 04:23 a.m. Open up Michael half-opened his eyes and his first thought was that he was having a dream. His head was pulsating of all the vodka he had drank and he could swear he had gone to bed just a minute ago. He looked at ...

John Chu HOLD-TIME VIOLATIONS Attention passengers: the next Red Line train to Alewife is now approaching echoes off the walls. Not only has the next Red Line train to Alewife arrived but its passengers have already flooded the station, a torrent rushing up the escalators, through the turnstiles, then down the concourse to spill out the doors to Cambridge. The flood coming as the PA system squawks catches Ellie off-guard. Its rush hour. When a train arrives on one side of the platform, the one ...

Tham Cheng-E SURROGATE PROTOCOL For Sandra, who has always been there Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards. SREN KIERKEGAARD, JOURNALEN JJ:167 1843 1 KILLING LANDON SINGAPORE ISNT STERILE like everyone says. Its full of secrets. Take me, for instance. Im an anomaly and I think the world ought to know this. But I dont know if its a good thing because if the world found out, Id probably be cut open. Maybe being cut open is better than hiding in the shadows. Did you ...

Julianna Baggott THE VIRTUAL SWALLOWS OF HOG ISLAND Everything had been going along just fine. Helen Viorst was in the game. She was playing well, as she had been for three months of intensive outpatient therapy. The trouble hit when she was sent into her Childhood Kitchen. In this part of the game, Id coded a close-enough replica. In my career, Ive recreated hundreds of Childhood Kitchens. The program auto-adjusts for approximations of era and status, and the vast majority of our clients were ...

Kim Stanley Robinson RED MOON orbitbooks.net orbitshortfiction.com CHAPTER ONE nengshang nengxia Can Go Up Can Go Down Xi Someone had told him not to look while landing on the moon, but he was strapped in his seat right next to a window and could not help himself: he looked. Quickly he saw why he had been told not tothe moon was doubling in size with every beat of his heart, they were headed for it at cosmic speed and would certainly vaporize on impact. A mistake must have been made. He still ...

Brandon Q. Morris THE ENCELADUS MISSION HARD SCIENCE FICTION http:www.hard-sf.com Part 1: The Path July 17, 2031, NASA The room was hushed in anticipation. All eyes in Mission Control were upon the woman everyone referred to as MOM. Her moniker, an acronym from the more formal title of Mission Operations Manager, was derived from the name tag someone had at one point playfully taped to her screen as a joke. Martin was sitting upright in order to see her beyond his monitor. She was almost as old ...